JP2023516559A - Conveyor for individual products - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is intended for discrete products, in particular tablet products produced by a tablet press, having a sliding base (19) and a conveying mechanism (20) over which the sliding bases run. and has a number of receiving pockets (22) for the separated products (11), said receiving pockets being open to the sliding base (19) located below and above the sliding base (19) relates to a transport device movable by a transport mechanism (20) in a transport direction (24) along a transport path (23). The present invention is provided in individual devices for products to be conveyed to ensure that they are discharged from the conveying path without being damaged in the process, provided at the sliding base (19) and at the discharge portion (29) of the conveying path (23). ) and assigned to the opening (28) at least one closed base region (32) for closing the discharge portion (29) and leaving the discharge portion (29) free. We propose a discharge device (27) having a movable discharge base (30) with at least one open through passage area (33) for the discharge base (30) for optionally closing or releasing the discharge portion (29). ) is essentially the same as the transport direction (24) of the transport mechanism (20).

Description

The present invention relates to a conveying device for individual products, in particular for tablet products produced using a pelletizing device, comprising a sliding base and a conveying element running on the sliding base, the The conveying element has a plurality of receiving pockets for individual products which can be moved by the conveying element along the conveying track on the sliding base in the conveying direction.

Such conveying devices are used, for example, to remove tablet products produced in a rotary pelletizer, the products being fed from the die table of the pelletizer to a conveyor device, each individually received in a receiving pocket. be done. The receiving pocket is generally designed, for example, as a star conveyor and is arranged above the slide base and arranged in the peripheral region of the conveying element which is driven in rotation by the drive. The system thereby conveys the product captured in the receiving pocket onto the sliding base on a circular path to the discharge device.

In order to monitor the product quality of tablet products in a form that can be transported using the present invention, the individual products should be removed from the transportation route as soon as possible after manufacture so that appropriate auditing measures can be implemented. It is often desirable to drain the The high production rates currently achievable on pelletizers, which reach hundreds of tablet products per minute with rotary pelletizers, allow individual products to be make it difficult to discharge reliably.

Various solutions were investigated for the release of individual tablet products after manufacture in a tablet press. A simple option for taking individual samples from production is to stop production briefly and remove one of the produced tablets through a window that is opened for access. This method of sampling while the system is stopped does not involve any investment costs or adjustments to the system, and damage to the tablets is also usually avoided. However, it is clear that this procedure is time consuming and therefore associated with a non-negligible loss of production.

Yet another approach involves the use of already packaged tablets as samples, so that individual tablets are not discharged from production at all, rather one of the packages is sampled only after production and packaging have been completed. resumed on Even with this method, there is no need to change the pelletizing system and no strain on the tablets caused by the ejection process. However, the drawback here is that the tablets first have to go through the entire route of further processing after the actual production (transportation, packaging) and then be opened again, which means that the tablets can be inspected after production. means that a considerable amount of time will pass before it can be done. If a product defect is found during this audit, it can be repaired only after this delay time.

Attempts to expel individual tablets from a conveying path with compressed air by blowing compressed air with compressed air nozzles and displacing them (laterally) from the normal conveying path have been tried in various ways of this method. reveals shortcomings. Because on the one hand a reliable supply of compressed air must be ensured for application to the compressed air nozzles and on the other hand the tablets are blown in such a way that they are not removed from the conveyor belt or another conveying element in an uncontrolled manner. must be provided with appropriate stopping guides. It is easy to have a situation where a tablet that is blown sideways out of the transport truck by compressed air is damaged when it hits the stop guide, resulting in a subsequent audit, especially weight determination, resulting in a poor (i.e. underweight) product. However, this defect was not caused by tablet manufacture, but rather during ejection.

A similar problem arises when attempting to eject a single sample tablet by applying a vacuum or by a mechanical diverter that laterally deflects the tablet into the sample removal channel. These measures can also easily result in damage to the ejected product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveying device of the initially mentioned type in such a way that individual products conveyed with the conveying device can be reliably discharged from the conveying path as samples without damaging them during the process. It is to be designed to

The invention achieves this object through a discharge device having a recess provided in the sliding base, which recess comprises the discharge of the transport track and at least one closing base region for closing the discharge. and at least one open passage area for releasing the ejection, wherein the direction of movement of the ejection base for selectively closing or opening the ejection is essentially: Synchronous with the conveying direction of the conveying element.

Thus, according to the invention, a downward discharge possibility is created by the invention for discharging individual products within the sliding base of the conveyor device on which the products are transported. During routine transport operations of the device, the sliding base is also closed at the discharge by the closing base region of the discharge. To discharge the product, move the discharge base to release the discharge by bringing the open passage scope under the product to be discharged. According to the invention, the direction of movement of the ejection base, which is synchronous with the direction of transport of the conveying element, limits the passage area and the opening and closing edges of the ejection base forward and rearward in the direction of movement are the tablets transported on the sliding base. ensures that the maximum possible time interval is available for the opening and closing movement, since it moves at least essentially in the same direction as the flow of . The ejected product therefore has sufficient time to fall through the sliding base through the temporary opening formed in the base, e.g. can fall onto the product chute.

An advantageous design of the invention comprises that the discharge base is formed by a circular disc driven by rotation with at least one base window forming the passage area. According to the invention, the circular disc is rotated in a direction such that the base window, which is arranged under the product to be discharged to open the discharge device, moves at least essentially in the same direction as the product.

The ejection base is preferably arranged flush with the sliding base at least partially within a recess provided therein, so that a stepless transition between the ejection base and the sliding base is ensured. , over which the product transported can be moved without damage.

Advantageously, the discharge floor can be driven with a travel speed that is synchronous with the transport speed of the transport elements. This allows minimizing the relative velocity of the passage area to the transport velocity of the product moving on the sliding base, thus maximizing the time for the ejector to open and remove the product from the product stream. can be done.

In a manner known per se, the conveying element may be a rotating conveying star arranged above the sliding base and having receiving pockets formed on its radially outer scope. The ejection base can be driven by an ejection drive that can be withdrawn from the drive for the conveying element. This arrangement can be made such that the ejection drive can be coupled to the drive for the conveying element by means of a gear that can be engaged and disengaged. However, it is also possible to provide a separate drive for the ejection base independent of the conveying element drive, such as a pneumatic drive or a servomotor. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drive for the ejection base is carried out by a pneumatic cylinder, which is rotated by a fixed, specific angular amount, e.g. in the desired direction of rotation, during the complete working stroke of the cylinder. It is coupled via a freewheel ratchet gear so that it rotates by 90° and remains in that position during the opposite stroke of the cylinder. In this way, by actuating and retracting the pneumatic cylinder several times, in particular four times, the ejection base can be completely rotated in a corresponding number of steps and returned to its original position, thereby Each base window in the discharge base that is opened once during a single rotation to discharge an article accesses a recess in the sliding base to release the discharge. The operating speed of the pneumatic cylinder, i.e. the speed at which its piston rod extends or retracts, is preferably adapted to the conveying speed at which the product is conveyed over the sliding base, so that the discharge base or discharge formed therein The window moves at essentially the same speed and at least approximately in the same direction as the discharged products moved by the conveying element.

The discharge device shall preferably be located below the discharge and comprise a product chute accessed from above by the product when the discharge base is in place when the discharge is released. The discharge device is preferably arranged between the feed device for the products on the sliding base and the removal device for the products downstream of the feed device in the conveying direction. The feeder device (feeding device) can be at least partially formed by the die table of the pelletizing device. The removal device is preferably substantially formed by a base opening provided in the sliding base, through which base opening the products moved by the conveying elements over the sliding base pass in their conveying path. It can drop onto the end, eg onto a trailing conveyor belt or onto a discharge chute.

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the drawings and the following description, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with the aid of examples.

1 is a simplified perspective view of a pelletizing system equipped with an apparatus according to the invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is an abbreviated perspective view of a part of the device according to the invention with a closed outlet, the object according to FIG. Fig. 2 shows the article of Fig. 1 with the discharge section open; 2 shows, in a representation corresponding to FIG. 1, another embodiment of a pelletizing system having an alternative drive for the discharge base of the discharge device; FIG.

In the figure, 10 designates a pelletizing system used to manufacture tablet products, eg detergent tablets 11 . System 10 includes a rotary tablet press, as is known in the state of the art for producing compressed products made from powders. By way of example only a pair of die punches 12 having an upper punch 13 and a lower punch 14 are presented in the drawings from a tablet press, as the construction of such tablet presses is well known to those skilled in the art. During one revolution of the die plate 12 in the rotational direction 15, the product 11 pressed by a pair of die punches in the associated die opening 16 is pushed into the die opening by the respective lower punches 14 at the end of rotation of the die table 12. 16 and is transferred to the feeding device 17 of the conveyor system which is the subject of the present invention.

The conveyor device, indicated generally at 18, has a sliding base 19, the top of which is level with the top of the die plate 12, the die plate 12 bounding in the shape of a segment of a circle running within the feeding device 17. Have a face. A rotating conveying element in the form of a conveying star 20 is arranged rotatably about a vertical axis just above the sliding base 19 . The star conveyor 20 has a plurality of radially outwardly projecting carrier fingers 21 provided on its outer periphery which form receiving pockets 22 for the products 11 therebetween. The receiving pocket 22 is open at the bottom towards the sliding base 19, so that the product 11 taken over by the die plate 12, starting from the feeding device 17, slides on the device 18 over an angular range of approximately 180°. It is pushed into a circular transport track 23 in transport direction 24 towards a removal device 25 on the moving base 19 . It can be seen that the carrier fingers 21 within the feeder device 17 project laterally beyond the upper drafted boundary surface of the die plate in the formation of a circle segment, thereby being able to take over the product from the die plate. Lateral guidance of the tablet product 11 along the transport track 23 outside the circumferentially open receiving pocket 22 is achieved by stationary guide rails 26 in the form of circular segments, which extend from the supply device 17 to the removal device 25 . and defines an outer arc-shaped transport track 23 .

Approximately halfway between the supply device 17 and the removal device 25, the device 18 comprises a discharge device 27 for conveying one or more products 11 so that they can be audited, for example as product samples. It can be discharged from truck 23 . The ejection device 27 can best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide rails 26 in the form of circular segments not being shown.

As can be seen, the ejector 27 comprises a recess 28 provided in the sliding base 19 of the ejector 29 of the transport track 23 and a movable ejector base 30 dedicated to the recess 28, the preferred exemplary embodiment shown. is formed by a rotary drive circular disc 31 . It has a closed base area 32 extending over a circumferential angle of approximately 270° to close the discharge 29 and an open passage area 33 in the form of a base window 34 through which the discharge can be released. The circular disc can be rotated about a vertical axis using a drive 35 connected to the ejection base 30 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, this drive consists of a servomotor arranged below the ejection base, the output shaft of which has a circular disc forming the ejection base, either directly or interposed by a gearing. It is flanged with In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the drive for the ejection base is essentially formed using a pneumatic cylinder 40, which ejects when the piston rod 42 extends during operation of the cylinder. Via a (simplified) ratchet gear 41 connected to the axis of rotation of the base 30, the ejection base is always advanced by a quarter turn. Although not shown in detail, a ratchet mechanism provided on the ratchet gear ensures that the ejection base maintains its position when the piston rod is retracted, i.e. when the piston rod does not rotate again. The reciprocating motion of the piston rod of the cylinder is thus converted into rotary indexing motion of the ejection base in one rotational direction, using four successive complete working strokes of the pneumatic cylinder in the illustrated embodiment. causes a complete rotation of the to its starting position.

By means of the drive 35 the closed base region 32 of the discharge base 30 is arranged in the recess 28 to close the discharge 29 or an open passage region 33 is brought into the recess 28 whereby the discharge 29 is opened so that the product 11 arriving on the transport track 23 then descends starting below the discharge section 29 onto the discharge chute 36 which discharges the product from the conveyor device 18 . According to the invention, the direction of movement of the discharge base 30 in the region of the recess 28, i.e. the circular disc under the recess of the conveyor star in the exemplary embodiment, for selectively closing or opening the discharge 29 Circumferential direction 37 of 31 is essentially the same as conveying direction 24 of conveying element 20 . This particular configuration has essentially radially extending front and rear window edges 38 defining bottom windows 34 circumferentially at the front and rear as the circular disc rotates, opposite to the direction of travel 24 of tablets 11 . not moving, but rather moving in essentially the same direction, so that the conveyor at the discharge device 27 between the edge of the carrier finger 21 or recess 28 of the conveyor star 20 and the window edge 38 of the base window 34 in the discharge base 30. This has the advantage that the tablets ejected from the device 18 do not get jammed and thereby damaged.

2 and 3, the ejection base 30 is arranged flush with the slide base 19, i.e. the top side of its base scope is at the same height as the top side of the slide base. In the closed state of the discharge device shown in FIG. 2, with the base area 32 in the recess 28 of the slide base 19, the products 11 are continuously fed by the star conveyor 20 over the narrow gap 39 between the slide base and the discharge base. move to The recess 28 of the sliding base has an approximately semicircular shape and is substantially completely filled by the circular disc 31 forming the ejection base 30 when the ejection device 27 is closed, leaving only a very narrow gap 39. Form. The discharge base 30 can be rotated or advanced by means of a servo motor 35 or pneumatic cylinder drives 40, 41 at a speed of movement synchronous with the transport speed of the conveyor star wheels 20 and thus the base window 34 of the circular disc 31. is placed in the recess 28 (Fig. 3), thereby opening the discharge 29 for the product, which then descends onto the discharge chute 36 and is thus withdrawn from the normal conveying path. It goes without saying that for some products, for example in particular the embodiment according to FIG. 4, it is possible to keep the discharge base in its open position correspondingly longer and thus correspondingly follow each other. Some products are removed or, in particular in the embodiment according to FIG. every second of the product located in the adjacent receiving pocket from the normal transport track between, for example, the feeder and the discharger, so as to come under the product deposited in the receiving pocket with each revolution; It is also possible to unload so that the third or nth is already ejected in the ejector.

Of course, other types of sampling can also be carried out with correspondingly different designs of the discharge device, in particular of the discharge base. The discharge base may, for example, also be fitted with a plurality of base windows interleaved with corresponding large closed base areas. Such a design can be useful, for example, when it is necessary to ensure that every second product produced by the pelletizer should be diverted to different locations. It is also possible to design the ejector with a flexible drive element, e.g. a link chain, rotating around e.g. On the link chain, one or more closing plates are arranged projecting laterally and can be moved into recesses in the base floor to close the base floor.

Claims (11)

Conveying devices for individual products, in particular for tablet products manufactured with a pelletizing device,
a sliding base (19);
a conveying element (20) running on said sliding base (19) having a plurality of receiving pockets (22) for said individual products (11), said receiving pockets (22) comprising said can be moved on said sliding base (19) in a transport direction (24) along a transport track (23) by means of a transport element (20),
characterized by comprising an ejection device (27), said ejection device (27) comprising:
having a recess (28) in said sliding base (19), said recess (28) comprising a discharge (29) of said transport track (23), and
said recess (28) comprising at least one closed base region (32) for closing said discharge (29) and at least one open passage region (33) for releasing said discharge (29) ) having a dedicated movable movable discharge base (30),
a direction of movement (37) of said ejection base (30) for selectively closing or releasing said ejection portion (29) is essentially synchronous with said conveying direction (24) of said conveying element (20); ing,
Conveyor. 2. According to claim 1, characterized in that said discharge base (30) is formed by a circular disc (31) driven by rotation, at least one base window (34) forming a passage area (33). transport device. Claim characterized in that said discharge base (30) is arranged flush with said slide base (19) in said recess (28) provided at least partially in said slide base. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2. Conveying device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the discharge base (30) is drivable with a moving speed synchronous with the conveying speed of the conveying element (20). Said conveying element is a conveying star (20) rotatably arranged above said sliding base (19) and arranged on the radially outer peripheral region in which said receiving pocket (22) is formed. Conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that. Conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ejection base (30) can be driven by an ejection drive that can be withdrawn from the drive for the conveying element (20). Device. 7. Conveyor according to claim 6, characterized in that the ejection drive is connectable to the drive for the conveying element by means of a gear that can be engaged and disengaged. Conveying device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the discharge device (27) comprises a discharge chute (36) arranged below the discharge section (29). Said discharge device (27) comprises a feeding device (17) for said products (11) on said sliding base (19) and said products in said conveying direction (24) downstream of said feeding device (17). 9. Transport device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is arranged between a removal device (25) for . 10. Conveying device according to claim 9, characterized in that the feeding device (17) is at least partially formed by the die table (12) of a pelletizing device. 11. Conveying device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the ejection device (25) is essentially formed by a base opening provided in the sliding base (19).

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